Thinking of a name for a funny terrorists vs counter-terrorist game, like a cross between the game Bang! and the movie "Team America". I know the title sounds inflammatory, but that's the idea and it's something "Team America" capitalized on - the tongue-in-cheek thing.

Well, since you asked I think you should check out the game War on Terror and then put on your flame retardant suit.

The idea of a humorous take on the whole terror "thing" doesn't exactly go over well with this bunch. Well, most of them anyway.

Don't let me dissuade you. I'm just telling you how it can be around here.

Good luck.

I don't think you'll find a lot of people laughing or even wanting to laugh about a current event involving so much suffering. Some people find humor in anything, but be prepared for some criticism if you do. A game like this would probably not go over well in a shop in say, New York or Madrid,

Games don't have a good history with satire, and IMO are a weak vehicle for it. NukeWar pulled it off reasonably well but, that was what, 4 decades after WWII?

Well, since you asked I think you should check out the game War on Terror and then put on your flame retardant suit.

The idea of a humorous take on the whole terror "thing" doesn't exactly go over well with this bunch. Well, most of them anyway.

Don't let me dissuade you. I'm just telling you how it can be around here.

Good luck.

I don't think you'll find a lot of people laughing or even wanting to laugh about a current event involving so much suffering. Some people find humor in anything, but be prepared for some criticism if you do. A game like this would probably not go over well in a shop in say, New York or Madrid,

Games don't have a good history with satire, and IMO are a weak vehicle for it. NukeWar pulled it off reasonably well but, that was what, 4 decades after WWII?

Yeah, because, games like, oh, WAR ON TERROR haven't gotten off the ground

I noticed, but that game, despite splitting the group in half, had a lot of supporters, and was recieved pretty well overall. Most of the fervor was just around the actual release, once it came out it really wasn't that big of a deal.

Thinking of a name for a funny terrorists vs counter-terrorist game, like a cross between the game Bang! and the movie "Team America". I know the title sounds inflammatory, but that's the idea and it's something "Team America" capitalized on - the tongue-in-cheek thing.

What do you think?

I think you should put it out there and find out who knocks on your door first: a G.I., a Jihadist, or distributor. I'll bet they'll have an answer for you.

Games don't have a good history with satire, and IMO are a weak vehicle for it. NukeWar pulled it off reasonably well but, that was what, 4 decades after WWII?

Nuclear War was actually first published in 1965: two decades after WWII, and is still being published. The Peter Sellers film, "Dr. Strangelove," preceded it by a year and is still being enjoyed.

I agree that games are generally weak vehicles for satire. But if a satirical movie or book can be a hit, then "the ice is broken," so to speak, for a satirical game to follow. I seem to remember that few could find anything about the war in Vietnam funny until John Cleese broke the ice with the line: "They kicked yer ass GOOD!" from "A Fish Called Wanda." ...And even with that, I don't think the window for humor for that conflict is open very wide.

"Are we there yet?" for a satirical War on Terror game? Maybe, but I'm thinking not--even though I laughed at Team America.

I think it's hillarious, but not as funny as a spinoff of Caylus set in a concentration camp where Jews, gypsies, communists, and gays help build the Nazi war machine (but beware the penalty if you don't contribute batches to the Luftwafe). Not half as funny as an updated version of Cartegena in which terrorists are trying to escape from Guantanamo! But almost as funny as Undergraduates Menace America, a game set in Virginia Tech where different famous homocidal maniacs (the Columbine kids, the Wash, D.C. sniper, Timothy McVeigh, etc.) run rampant.

did all you self-righteous types even read my post properly? I said it's a terrorist vs counter-terrorist game. Do you, for example, find the world's most popular first-person shooter computer game "Counter-Strike" offensive?

Some of you are huffing and puffing so sanctimoniously that you actually think that the goal of the game might be for terrorists to blow themselves up in a crowded bus stations or something. This game will be no different than "Cops and Robbers" - after all robbers kill "innocent" people too. Get off your high horse.

Games don't have a good history with satire, and IMO are a weak vehicle for it. NukeWar pulled it off reasonably well but, that was what, 4 decades after WWII?

Nuclear War was actually first published in 1965: two decades after WWII, and is still being published. The Peter Sellers film, "Dr. Strangelove," preceded it by a year and is still being enjoyed.

I agree that games are generally weak vehicles for satire. But if a satirical movie or book can be a hit, then "the ice is broken," so to speak, for a satirical game to follow. I seem to remember that few could find anything about the war in Vietnam funny until John Cleese broke the ice with the line: "They kicked yer ass GOOD!" from "A Fish Called Wanda." ...And even with that, I don't think the window for humor for that conflict is open very wide.

"Are we there yet?" for a satirical War on Terror game? Maybe, but I'm thinking not--even though I laughed at Team America.

I think there's a difference. No one got nuked here, so the satire of the game was really more about living with the threat of a nuclear war than suffering and misery that had actually happened.

I don't think movies are a good comparison, but I like your point nonetheless. Team America in particular since it pushed the envelop both in content and proximity to outside events.

did all you self-righteous types even read my post properly? I said it's a terrorist vs counter-terrorist game. Do you, for example, find the world's most popular first-person shooter computer game "Counter-Strike" offensive?

Some of you are huffing and puffing so sanctimoniously that you actually think that the goal of the game might be for terrorists to blow themselves up in a crowded bus stations or something. This game will be no different than "Cops and Robbers" - after all robbers kill "innocent" people too. Get off your high horse.

We read your post. It had a question. It said, "What do you think?" I've quoted it for reference. When you ask someone what they think, and they honestly tell you, well, they did you a service. Your welcome. If several people didn't have the same background as you, maybe you didn't communicate your question very clearly.

Here's a tip, and I mean this constructively and respectfully:If you are asking the above question in the context of designing a game, divorce your emotions from the criticism. It will hurt your design, and especially your ability to pitch the game idea to anyone who's interested in it. Accepting criticism is painfully hard at first, but it's absolutely integral to game design. It slowly gets easier too.

If you're just asking about the title, I actually think it's pretty good, and has a catchy ring to it.

Gamer Dog: thanks for your feedback. My reply wasn't about criticisms with my idea - in fact I am not even serious about it! I've been throwing an idea in my head about different themes and ways that Bang! could be used - for example a spy theme. I just thought the title "GIs and Jihadists" was funny because of the game industry's habit of using alliteration.

What my reply WAS about, was the habit of many forumners in forums around the world to be self-righteous and critical without first examining the facts. I've been actively participating in forums for 10 years now, and I myself went through the stages of quick judgement and criticism but I learnt through many years of judging falsely that one should just give people the benefit of the doubt. Hence my reply.

As for actual criticism of my ideas, the way I deal with constructive criticism is this: I make a list of all the key tenets of design that I will uphold. If any suggestion appears to improve the concept without violating a key tenet, then I deem it a suggestion worth implementing. I am an analyst by profession and this is the method I use to facilitate feedback in an objective and constructive manner.

Games don't have a good history with satire, and IMO are a weak vehicle for it. NukeWar pulled it off reasonably well but, that was what, 4 decades after WWII?

Nuclear War was actually first published in 1965: two decades after WWII, and is still being published. The Peter Sellers film, "Dr. Strangelove," preceded it by a year and is still being enjoyed.

I wonder if "Junta" is a better example. It was a satirical game about coups and tyranny, guerilla warfare, and cartel economy in a dictator-led "Banana Republic". It was released and continued to be published while tensions (and warfare and terrorist activity) in the very places it skewered - Cuba, Granada, Panama, Columbia - continued. I doubt people who lost loved ones in these struggles considered Junta a clever satire. But the game existed, all the same.

I have repeated this dozens of times on this site. I won't even allow Memoir '44 in my house because it reduces historical lives and actual human existance to tiny plastic men.

Replace those men on one side with demons, aliens or robots, clearly removing any factuality and I'm fine with it.

I'm absolutely fine with other people playing these games, but you wasked if I found it offensive. Yes. Without a second thought.

fair enough. At least you're consistent. I am not one to judge people's LEVEL of sensitivity.

On the game, I think criminals destroy the lives of innocents, yet popular media glorifies criminals (Sopranos anyone?). I don't see that as any different to a counter-terrorist themed game. As for a counter-terrorist card game being popular: probably not, but as I said: I'm not even serious about it.

I clearly see the humor of the game you are proposing (or at least the way I interpret it), and I can see a clear need for games that take on the current apathy of the world and satirize upon the fact that a huge part of the world has had this war forced on their lives. For me, a game exposing the greed and lies of the mullahs as well as the corporate sharks and the US government in a humoristic (although dead serious) way, is something extremely worthwhile. Is it a sad situation? Yes. Are people dying every day because of this? Absolutely. Does that mean that we should not talk about it? No: Definitely not. Rather, we have to talk about it, and do so excessively.

A game is one way to raise awareness on subjects where human beings are morally and existentially challenged. So please, Al: Make your game!

About the title. .. I Didn’t like the Joe-thing one bit. G.I.’s vs. jihadists is an OK suggestion. I have a book at home, describing the middle eastern situation, with the US on one side and the various religious and national parties on the other. It is called “Clash of Fundamentalisms”.